MOVIE: Luna--Tell Me Do You Miss Me

[97flatcars]

Just viewed a very intriguing movie, LUNA:Tell Me Do You Miss Me, chronicling one indie band's farewell tour and the dynamics that caused it's demise. I couldn't help thinking WILCO could have gone the same way in the mid-90s--never quite making the "hit" that would boost them into stardom (regardless of a sizable cult following), relying on t-shirt/CD sales just to make money to help fund the tours, internal personality differences . . . After 13 years, Luna called it quits for all of those reasons. I suppose it didn't help that they sounded a lot like a regurgitation of Velvet Underground/Feelies/Yo La Tengo. Just goes to show you how utterly talented Tweedy is.

[Atticus]

I always really enjoyed Luna

[Dude]

This has been in my Netflix queue for a bit. I really like this from it:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Sv57rbujA

[PopTodd]

I always really enjoyed Luna

 

Especially Penthouse.

[SteveMck]

I always really enjoyed Luna

 

Me too. They used to play Providence a couple of times a year during their touring days. Fantastic live sounding band albeit with a very low-key stage presence.

[Ghost of Electricity]

I will tell you I do miss Luna.

 

Especially the Wareham/Harwood/Demeski/Eden lineup (as purdy as Britta is to look at)

[Atticus]

"going home" on bewitched is one of my favorite tunes of all time. brilliant.

[a-me-with-a-you]

Will add this to my queue, I like me some Yo La Tengo, now let's hope I'll find this flick somewhere.

[Oil Can Boyd]

Despite how derivative they are, I really like Luna. I always felt like Dean Wareham and I have the exact same record collection.

 

The clip that Dude linked above is certainly one of the highlights of the movie and of Luna's live set. I liked the movie but it was a little depressing. So many bands that I like achieved about that same level of success - enough to keep going as a band but not enough to really make it.

[a-me-with-a-you]

Despite how derivative they are, I really like Luna. I always felt like Dean Wareham and I have the exact same record collection.

 

The clip that Dude linked above is certainly one of the highlights of the movie and of Luna's live set. I liked the movie but it was a little depressing. So many bands that I like achieved about that same level of success - enough to keep going as a band but not enough to really make it.

I've never actually seen an underground band I like split up due to lack of success, usually that happens when they get a radio hit and the unrest begins to stir between band members about whether or not they've sold out(or maybe whether or not to do a VW commercial lol). I guess I'm lucky b/c quite a few bands I like only have a small cult following.

[Oil Can Boyd]

I've never actually seen an underground band I like split up due to lack of success, usually that happens when they get a radio hit and the unrest begins to stir between band members about whether or not they've sold out(or maybe whether or not to do a VW commercial lol). I guess I'm lucky b/c quite a few bands I like only have a small cult following.

I don't quite get your second point. Are you saying you are lucky because that means you get to see those bands in smaller venues? If so, I agree with you to a certain extent but I feel selfish in doing so. And Wareham talks about this in the movie. He discusses being in two cult bands (Galaxie 500 before Luna) and how that is fine when you are getting going and in your 20s, but when you are in your 40s and married and have a kid and you are playing the same clubs you have been playing for 20 years, it gets old. He also talks about the pressure of feeling like he was responsible for the welfare of the rest of the band and how that was part of the reason he broke up Luna.

 

And now that I think about it, he talks about it in the movie but also in his book Black Postcards, which is a pretty good read.

[Ghost of Electricity]

 

 

And now that I think about it, he talks about it in the movie but also in his book Black Postcards, which is a pretty good read.

wow, i didn't know he had written a book. must remember to look for it next time i'm across the pond. Is it a memoir?

[Oil Can Boyd]

wow, i didn't know he had written a book. must remember to look for it next time i'm across the pond. Is it a memoir?

It is a memoir, covering mostly his musical life, starting in high school and going through the end of Luna.

[Ghost of Electricity]

Despite how derivative they are, I really like Luna.

I don't necessarily see them as derivative. The Feelies have been mentioned, and while there is some truth there, perhaps it's because they inherited Stan Demeski in the Feelies' will. But the Feelies also had a manic edge, which Luna (or Galaxie 500) never did. The Feelies were high school kids on speed, Luna were the stoned and in college.

 

As for VU, well, yes their third album was a kind of template for all of Dean Wareham's stuff, but only the third one. Don't hear much of the John Cale avant drone or the "pop hits" of Loaded. It was the third one, with the soft and pretty reverby stuff that they were after.

 

But wearing your influence of your sleeve doesn't have to mean you are derivative. they brought a fair measure of originality to the table as well.

[mpolak21]

I like this flick quite a bit, though I was never really as interested in Luna as I am in Galaxie 500, Dean's a pretty intriguing dude, and his memoir is a great read.

 

--Mike

[MattZ]

I could never get into Galaxie500 so I never gave Luna a shot. Listening to Penthouse right now for the first time, and it's great. Thanks VC!

[a-me-with-a-you]

I don't quite get your second point. Are you saying you are lucky because that means you get to see those bands in smaller venues? If so, I agree with you to a certain extent but I feel selfish in doing so. And Wareham talks about this in the movie. He discusses being in two cult bands (Galaxie 500 before Luna) and how that is fine when you are getting going and in your 20s, but when you are in your 40s and married and have a kid and you are playing the same clubs you have been playing for 20 years, it gets old. He also talks about the pressure of feeling like he was responsible for the welfare of the rest of the band and how that was part of the reason he broke up Luna.

 

And now that I think about it, he talks about it in the movie but also in his book Black Postcards, which is a pretty good read.

 

Well, there's a certain amount of egoism involved of course; I used to really like Kings of Leon until they hit it big and they're not a well kept secret anymore, but the main issue is conforming to commercial norms (such as converting to stadium rock) in order to hit it big or in order to stay big. The KOL example works well here, their least inspired album(OBTN) is also their most succesful by a mile. Cult bands are the only kind of bands left that gain all of their following by word to mouth, and not getting your music video onto mtv. Of course, nowadays(I'm not that old actually) you can be a youtube wonder or get millions of hits on your myspace page and explode.

 

I think my side in the discussion will have better arguments if I can actually see the movie in the near future.-)

[Oil Can Boyd]

But wearing your influence of your sleeve doesn't have to mean you are derivative. they brought a fair measure of originality to the table as well.

I think we are saying the same thing here and it is just semantics. I may not see the word "derivative" as having the negative connotations that you might. Yes, they wear their influences boldly and proudly on their sleeves and they do a nice job at mixing them together and crating their own thing.

 

I remember Wareham once saying that the Velvets 1969 Live album was his favorite album of all time. And it shows ...

[Ghost of Electricity]

anyway it's nice to see this band getting some love, and even a few new converts. Matt, try the first two as well ("Lunapark" and "Bewitched")

[Marijn]

I've never actually seen an underground band I like split up due to lack of success

 

Wasn't this the exact reason why Beulah called it a quits?

[a-me-with-a-you]

Wasn't this the exact reason why Beulah called it a quits?

I stand corrected, I love Beulah.

[Oil Can Boyd]

Not sure whether this deserves its own thread but it is a little odd to me (from pitchfork):

 

Last month, we reported that former Galaxie 500 frontman Dean Wareham would play a set of all Galaxie 500 songs this September in Atlanta. It wouldn't be a Galaxie 500 reunion, though; Wareham would be backed by his current-day Dean & Britta bandmates.

 

As it turns out, Wareham has booked a whole tour of Galaxie 500 shows. The tour, spread from August to December, will take him to some of the bigger U.S. cities. Dates below.

 

Also, Double Feature will release the Dean & Britta double album 13 Most Beautiful...Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests on July 27. For more Galaxie 500, check out our oral history here.

 

Dean & Britta:

 

08-19 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

08-20 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero

09-16-17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl

11-11 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour

11-13 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

12-03 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall

[jakobnicholas]

Just viewed a very intriguing movie, LUNA:Tell Me Do You Miss Me, chronicling one indie band's farewell tour and the dynamics that caused it's demise. I couldn't help thinking WILCO could have gone the same way in the mid-90s--never quite making the "hit" that would boost them into stardom (regardless of a sizable cult following), relying on t-shirt/CD sales just to make money to help fund the tours, internal personality differences . . . After 13 years, Luna called it quits for all of those reasons. I suppose it didn't help that they sounded a lot like a regurgitation of Velvet Underground/Feelies/Yo La Tengo. Just goes to show you how utterly talented Tweedy is.

 

 

Not trying to nitpick, but I don't know if it's fair to suggest Wilco made it just because Tweedy is super talented. Jeff is a great writer and artist, but Dean Wareham is pretty great also.

 

I think Wilco's longevity is due mostly to Tweedy's restlessness. In Tupelo, he went from punk to folksy to pop. In early Wilco, he put out a great "alt-country" record, then found Jay Bennett, helping create texture to Being There and wonderful studio pop on Summerteeth. Tweedy really immersed himself into the Woody Guthrie songs, creating some of his best tunes with Bennett. He perhaps got bored with Ken Coomer and saw the possibilities with Kotche, which helped make YHF great. Working with O'Rourke added greatly to YHF and Ghost is Born. Then Nels' guitar skills helped create a new "jammy" sound on some recent songs.

 

I like Wilco as much as anyone, but must admit their live show has become stale for me. I've seen them a number of times and have heard many live recordings over the past 5 years, and I'm amazed how they can continue to basically play the same 40-50 songs over and over and over without going a little nuts.

 

Perhaps Wareham tired of the routine....probably a more natural reaction than what Wilco has done.

 

As for Luna, I love "Luna Live"...it has awesome versions of Bewitched, Sideshow by the Seashore and Moon Palace, among others. Wareham, with Galaxie 500 and Luna, just had a really cool vibe with his music. Perhaps he couldn't or didn't want to try to expand his sound.

[ms. yvon]

i love this film. although the band dissolved at the end of it, i thought it was hopeful, too.

 

fun fact: for those of you who might know my real name, i'm listed in the {quite long} "special thanks."

(i edited a couple of the bonus performances for the DVD)

[Oil Can Boyd]

Luna playing some dates in Spain next April and hinting at some US dates in "fun places."

 

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-lunas-surprise-reunion-with-dean-wareham-20141029